I ate at Chelo’s again for lunch today and you’ve already seen the photos (their amazing tuna melt with grilled onions and Swiss and American cheese and clam chowder), so I’m just writing about tonight’s dinner.
I have heard about the shrimp fry at Church of the Good Shepherd in Lyndhurst for several years, and I finally got a chance to give them a try tonight. The Good Shepherd Shrimp Fry is special. Unlike most church fish fries, the Church of the Good Shepherd serves fried shrimp or mac n cheese and only holds it once a year on the last Friday before Good Friday, which is coincidentally traditionally the last fish fry of the season (unless you are orthodox). St. Ann’s near me also holds their fish fry tonight, but I decided I wanted to have some fried shrimp. Tonight’s shrimp fry (March 22, 2024) was from 5-7.
I’ve been to the Church of the Good Shepherd once over ten years ago for their blessing of the pets service. They used to hold it in the parking lot, but now they hold it at the South Euclid Dog Park on Monticello and South Belvoir. The church is set back from the road on Cedar near Legacy Village. It was not crowded, and I was able to get a good spot close to the church when I arrived shortly after 5:30.
As I was driving there tonight I tried to stop at the ATM, but it was out of service. I figured I could use my debit card there, but they don’t accept cards. They only accept cash, check, Cash App or something called Tithely. Dinners can also be preordered here. The pastor opened the door and greeted me, and also tried to help me scan the QR code and then walked me through downloading and using the Cash App app. Once I had it downloaded on my phone and my debit card entered I was able to easily pay my $15 for my shrimp dinner and headed on into the church hall. I was able to watch them frying the shrimp in the courtyard as I entered.
I was greeted warmly by everyone and also as I left later on. I had decided to get the dinner in a to-go box but sit down and enjoy the atmosphere for a bit. I gave the lady at the serving station my ticket and was told to take a seat. There was a table offering canned soda and homemade baked goods for $1 and $2 respectively. Coffee and water were free at yet another table. I purchased a couple of cans of soda for $1 each and sat down, only to be told to go up to the serving area to get my dinner because the shrimp was finished. I got them straight from the fryer as they refilled the serving tray. It doesn’t get any fresher than that! There was some confusion, because they told me to go back up there but they usually bring the dinners to the diners at the tables.
I grabbed some (real!) silverware, got my dinner, and grabbed a couple small containers of cocktail sauce (although they have squeeze bottles full of cocktail sauce available). The shrimp dinners come with eight pieces of shrimp, a generous ladleful of smashed potatoes (and the melted butter was glistening on the top of the serving pan), a generous scoop of cole slaw and a slice of Brownberry bread and wrapped pats of butter and, if you want, a small hunk of lemon.
I sat down and was joined by a friendly gentleman who explained the history of the shrimp fry. He explained that the first year they did it they had almost 100 diners and the line was wrapped around the sanctuary because they hadn’t worked out all the kinks (they could only fry 30 shrimp at a time and had to wait for the oil to come back up to temperature for the next batch). Someone started playing Beatles tunes on the piano and someone else ran home to get a propane burner. Now they use a propane burner to fry the shrimp and things go much smoother. He also told me about the church and about the trees and wildlife behind the church.
We had a nice chat as we tucked into our dinners. I was still full from lunch, so I ate three of the eight shrimp and a couple forkfuls of potatoes and cole slaw. The shrimp were delicately fried and absolutely perfect. I also really enjoyed the smashed potatoes. They were creamy and buttery. The cole slaw was on the bland side. I had to doctor it with salt and pepper and may add a couple of dashes of vinegar to it tomorrow when I eat the rest of my meal for lunch. Bob enjoyed a side of mac n cheese with his shrimp. Another parishioner who joined us also had the mac n cheese as part of her $15 side dishes meal (mac n cheese, smashed potatoes, cole slaw and bread), so it seems like those in the know get the mac n cheese as a side. The kid’s meal is $8 and features mac n cheese, smashed potatoes, cole slaw and bread).
I was on autopilot as I left and realized as I was almost home that I had forgotten to sign the petition against gerrymandering in the church lobby. I had toyed with the idea of grabbing a fish fry dinner to go at St. Ann’s, but it was getting late and I would have gotten there close to 7 when they closed. So I decided the petition was more important and turned my car around and drove back. I have been meaning to sign it for the last month, so I was super pleased that they had a table at the event. I might try to do both St. Ann’s and Good Shepherd next year (St. Ann’s starts at 4:30). Keep them in mind on the last Friday before Good Friday next year!
Contact info:
Church of the Good Shepherd
23599 Cedar Road
Lyndhurst, OH 44122
(216) 382-7770
info@gsepiscopal.org